By Kent Gray
When Sir Nick Faldo is the artist and Vietnam’s stunning central coast is the six-time major champion’s canvas, it’s a given the golf will be compelling. But Laguna Golf Lăng Cô, as recently as 2019 the country’s top-rated course, is more than just an alluring mix of links-style golf where ocean surf meets rocky mountainscape. With two award-winning hotels, this is a holiday destination within itself, not that you’ll want to bypass any of Vietnam’s other golfing gems. They do things right at Laguna Golf Lăng Cô with the club home to the Asian final of the global Faldo (junior) Series, as well as to a herd of water buffalo which help manage the seven hectares of rice fields located in the middle of the course. The “bio mowers” helped Laguna Golf Lăng Cô harvest a record 28 tonnes of rice last year which was donated to the local community. With its own water bottling plant to allow the resort to completely eliminate plastic water bottles, the club sealed an EarthCheck Gold certification in 2019, just one of three clubs worldwide to achieve the accreditation.

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By Kent Gray
He’s worked for Sir Nick Faldo, helmed the Hong Kong Golf Association and has consulted to Mission Hills in China – the world’s largest golf facility with 22 courses – for the past three years. It’s no surprise then that Tom Phillips owns some pretty amazing golf memories.

The absolute highlight for the 12-handicapper? “Playing nine holes with Lewis Hamilton at Mission Hills last year.”

A bit like F1, Phillips career progression has been rapid too. The 45-year-old Englishman started as the chief of the European Tour’s Middle East division on July 1, succeeding long-serving Nick Tarratt. He brings wife Tania as well as 25 years’ experience in the golf and leisure industries, the last 14 years in Asia, to Dubai and his new role.

With a BA Honours degree in media and communications and 15 years working for England’s first golfing knight as the CEO of the Faldo Series, Phillips can’t wait to get started in his dream role.

“What is my proudest single career achievement to date? Being appointed Head of Middle East for the European Tour,” Phillips says. “I’ve worked closely with the tour for more than 20 years through my different roles in golf, so to join the team and take on this position in such an important region for the sport is a privilege.”

What did you learn from your time as CEO of the Faldo Series that will be useful in your new role?
That you need to commit time and effort to any project for it to succeed. It’s a testament to Sir Nick that the time and effort he commits to the programme has launched so many successful careers over the years. Some people were sceptical when the series was first launched but all these years later he’s still devoted to the cause, taking so many players under his wing and helping them make it to a high level.

What’s the best piece of advice Sir Nick Faldo gave you?
Always keep pushing the barriers. Nick is the same in business as he was as a player: never sit back and think the job is done. What can we do next? Where is the next opportunity?  What can we do to get even better? Then keep working harder than anyone else to get there.

European Tour boss Keith Pelley says the tour is a content creator first and foremost. you have an honours degree in media and communications. we see a pattern here. will we see a significant change in the promotion/delivery of the European Tour’s Middle East product?
Key pillars for the European Tour are inclusivity and innovation and that’s something for all of us to be very proud of and excited about. We had the Jordan Mixed Open in Aqaba earlier this year which, from my point of view as a golf fan from the outside looking in, seemed to be a huge success. We’ve also had the Belgian Knockout and the GolfSixes and so it’s a really exciting time for golf in that perspective, exploring different avenues and formats and breaking down some barriers.

Phillips, left, at the 55th Anniversary edition of the Hong Kong Open in 2013

You’ve spent 14 years in Asia, a market similar to the Middle East. What has your time there, including at the Hong Kong Golf Association, taught you?
I think, even from my time in the 1990s working with a PR agency in the UK and on through my time in Asia, I have learned to adapt to the changes in the way the industry works and go with it. Take social media for instance and its incredible growth over the past 10 years or so. Social media has created so many opportunities and it’s really exciting to see how it has added to the whole PR scope. It moves at quite a pace. In China the growth of WeChat, for instance, is astronomical. It’s a huge part of life in the business community, way ahead of anything in Europe and other parts of the world. The Hong Kong Golf Association was another hugely valuable experience, working with golfers at all levels – from the world’s top players in the Hong Kong Open to local children experiencing the game for the first time through our new HSBC Golf For Schools programme.  We also had to take the governing body in a more commercial direction and we managed to achieve that with some key partners, HSBC is one of them.

Unless you’ve played there, it’s hard to get a grasp on how big/impressive mission hills is. this must have been a fascinating chapter in your career?
It really was. I have enjoyed a friendship with the Mission Hills owners for 15 years and for the last three years I consulted for them as Director of Business Development. As the world’s largest golf facility with 22 courses, they have been pioneers for golf in the country.

We see you’ve been working on Mission Hills International ‘golf and more’ strategy including recently-announced partnerships with FC Barcelona, the NBA and the PGA of America. what can golf learn from these sports/potential collaborations?
For me, that has been a really interesting experience to work with these huge organisations outside of golf. These are brands which are among the biggest in their class, which are also hugely committed to China. If you look at the European Tour and their investment into the Middle East over the last 30 or so years you can probably draw some comparisons.

What are your expectations of moving to Dubai?
I’ve been coming to the UAE and the Middle East since 2006. We teamed up with the EGA to set up a Faldo Series event in Dubai in 2006 which we combined with the opening ceremony for Nick’s re-design of the floodlit Wadi [now Faldo] Course at Emirates Golf Club. We also established the Faldo Series at Al Ain Golf and Shooting Club in the UAE – now the venue for the European Grand Final – and a few years of events in Bahrain. So, I’m quite familiar with the region. My family and I are excited to move to Dubai and get to know it even more; we have a son, [16-year-old] Sandy, who is at boarding school in the UK and looking forward to his holidays in Dubai! Aside from the job opportunity, I realise that it’s a great place to live, with its infrastructure, climate, safety, entertainment and, of course, golf.

What do you hope to achieve in your first 100 days in the role?
My first objective is to listen and learn from the existing Dubai office team and also spend time with key stakeholders, including venues, sponsors and governing bodies. I would like to think that my own international experience can help continue the excellent progress that has been made over the 30 years that the European Tour has been in the region.

Phillips: “As a golf fan from the outside looking in, the Jordan Mixed Open seemed to be a huge success.”

With six main tour events, the new Jordan Mixed Open and potentially the challenge tour season-decider again, the Middle East is a vital part of the European Tour’s global offering. How will you take it forward?
By listening to our key stakeholders in the region and understanding what they want. Knowing how invested the Tour is in the region, with initiatives like the biggest first prize [US$3 million] in golf for the winner of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, it’s a key area for global golf and for me that’s part of the attraction, the opportunity to expand and move forward.

Don’t be surprised to see innovative events like the Shot Clock Masters trialled in the Middle East if Phillips gets his way

Is growth, in terms of more events in the region, part of your remit?
I believe that there is definitely room for further expansion for the European Tour in the Middle East, both in terms of new events but also, perhaps more importantly as we’ve seen recently, new formats of the game.

Where are we at with the Challenge Tour’s end of season decider? Are we returning to RAK?
We are still in discussions about the end of season event on the Challenge Tour. An announcement will be made shortly.

Who is Tom Phillips when the tie comes off at the end of the day?
Pretty normal really…I think! I really enjoy travelling – meeting new people, visiting new places and experiencing new cultures – and I also love following sport.  But I get to do both of these hobbies in my day job so there is no real reason to be different outside of work.

What’s one thing that people may not know about you?
I’m a lifelong fan of AFC Wimbledon, formerly Wimbledon Football Club. I don’t normally admit that but, there, I’ve said it.

The post Tom Phillips unveils plan for his first 100 days as the European Tour’s new Middle East chief appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Another week, more compelling evidence that the MENA Tour is achieving its remit.

A week after five members teed it up in the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Dubai-based teen Toby Bishop has won medallist honours in the strokeplay phase of the Welsh Boys’ Amateur Championship in Carmarthen Golf Club.

One of the MENA Tour’s self-titled ‘Three Musketeers’ alongside teen pals Josh Hill and Arjun Gupta, Bishop carded rounds of 69-68 to finished the 36-hole qualifier on -5, five strokes clear of his nearest rivals.

The Trump International Golf Club Dubai member qualified top for the matchplay of the under-16 event and was to meet Iestyn McAvoy (Glynhir G.C.) in the round of 16 at 9am today local time (12 noon UAE time).

It’s another string in Bishop’s bow after his Faldo Series Europe final triumph at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club last November and highlights again the experience the teenage trio have gained in their rookie seasons on the MENA Tour is rubbing off around the globe.

RELATED: Bishop claims U-16 Faldo Series Europe title

The win comes after former MENA Tour winner Bob MacIntyre finished T-6 at last week’s Open Championship. The Scotsman was the best of five players from the regional developmental circuit to tee it up in Co. Antrim, including patron Darren Clarke and current amateur Order of Merit leader Curtis Knipes who shared some kind words about Hill in a recent interview with Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s also been some week for Trump International Golf Club Dubai. Bishop’s strokeplay success comes two days after clubmate Steven Kelbrick qualified for the Senior Open which begins at Royal Lytham & St Annes today.

RELATED: Dubai amateur joins Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and Jack Nicklaus’ son in Senior Open field

Kelbrick has a late tee-time in the opening round with the 52-year-old off at 2:57pm (5.57pm UAE time) alongside Mexico’s Esteban Toledo and Englishman Peter Scott, in the group immediately proceeding a threesome featuring golf media provocateur Brandel Chamblee.

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By Kent Gray
Sir Nick Faldo pauses momentarily as he reflects on the 21st anniversary of his globe-trotting junior development series.

“It’s been quite a good journey, yeah,” the 60-year-old golfing knight turned commentary box royal says with a hearty dollop of English understatement.

The Faldo Junior Series has indeed come a long way – 40 events in 30 countries annually to be exact – since the six-time major champion created the non-profit organisation in 1996 to give back to a sport that has given him so much. Among the talented youngsters identified and nurtured along the way have been major champions Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, plus tour winners Nick Dougherty, Oliver Fisher, Marc Warren, John Parry, Rashid Khan, Melissa Reid, Florentyna Parker and Carly Booth.

You can bet a handful of the 57 names on this week’s 21st Faldo Series European Grand Final leaderboard will emerge from Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club as future stars too after benefitting from the unique combination of tough tournament examinations and lashings of expert advice.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy poses with Nick Faldo after winning the U-17 division of the 2006 Faldo Junior Series at The Celtic Manor Resort on October 6, 2006.

From his home in Orlando, Faldo himself has come along way this week to host in Abu Dhabi. He’s brought sports psychologist Kjell Enhager with him, a man Faldo admits he could have done with during his playing days when he feared his mental fortitude might be exposed if he didn’t hide behind that famously aloof “blinkers on from the first tee to the 18th green” exterior.

“Kjell did a great presentation talking about the mind, how to visualise, how to make decisions, how to practice better, how to get yourself in the right mental state,” said Faldo. “It was a real good eye opener for them, they’re getting some good stuff from us.”

The learning, it seems, is a two-way thing.

“When we started [in 1996] you didn’t really appreciate all the differences but when you take European kids to say Asia and they get thrown in the deep end and suddenly they have to learn to play golf with an eight hour time change, different grass and you’re going to get sunburnt even when the sun doesn’t even come out, it’s a great learning experience.”

Faldo has been imparting his wisdom too, playing nine practice holes Sunday with some of the starry-eyed youngsters before holding a clinic for AESGC members on Monday morning as the talented teens from Europe, Asia and the UAE [Reema Al Heloo and Rashed Al Emadi] set off on their 54-hole odyssey.

A separate clinic for the players was planned for Monday afternoon and typical of his playing days, Faldo has come prepared, as much as his busy television commitments allow anyway.

“I always come in with some kind of theme to try and give the kids a bit of insight into what and how top sportsmen think, act and react, and how they can test themselves,” Faldo said

Asked for this weeks theme, the serial swing tinkerer of old emerges and makes for a fascinating listen.

“It’s funny I’ve been practicing and I always talk about my ‘four swing”, I mean I had one backswing and four different follow throughs to hit different shots,” says Faldo, clearly just warming up.

“When you play less you go right to what has to happen, the absolute musts, so if you’re trying to hit the ball high, what do you have to do to make it happen, how do you release the club? If you want to hit it low, if you want to hit a fade, hit a draw…and I’ve been doing that myself from the same stance basically, and then you learn to make minute differences and how to feel the differences and then what happens when you make the differences.

“You know, if you make some kind of difference in your swing, where does the golf ball go and if it goes consistently in a certain direction, can you use that as a positive, in a way to use it on the golf course?”

Just as he’s making a huge difference to the careers of all those involved at Al Ain this week, so too is Faldo playing the mutual appreciation game.

“It’s great, a great spot,” the CBS analyst says of AESGC . “Obviously this time of year its perfect. To try and go as late as possible in the season as we do, I mean you struggle in central Europe, it’s too cold. We’ve been to Loch Lomond where it’s blowing 40 miles an hour and it’s 40°f  (5°c), it snowed in the Greenbrier and well, they’ve got a treat here. They’re in nice breezy conditions in the low 80s (27°c), it’s going to be a good test for them.”

Faldo holds court at Monday’s AESGC members’ clinic.

The first day scoring showed many are up to the test with England’s Charlie Salter and Australian Daniel Gale leading the way with four under 66s. In all, 11 players bettered par.

With the backing of the R&A, World Amateur Golf Ranking points and trips to next year’s Asia Grand Final – Faldo will invite three boys and two girls to the event at his Faldo Design course in Vietnam, Laguna Lang Co, in March – on the line, there is still much to play for.

Regardless of the scoring this week, the chance to glean tips of the trade from Europe’s most majored golfer is a priceless opportunity. The journey – for both Faldo and his juniors – continues.

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